Culture Post: Fathers’ Depression Affects Kids’ Future Behavior

The following is excerpted from an online article posted by HealthDay.

Dads are supposed to be strong, steady and stoic, given how they’re portrayed in sitcoms and family entertainment.

But in real life, fathers sometimes falter — and brushing it off can have a devastating impact on their kids’ development, a new study says.

Undiagnosed or unaddressed depression in fathers can have negative social and behavioral effects on their children that can persist for years, researchers reported recently in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

Five-year-olds whose fathers had symptoms of depression were significantly more likely by age 9 to exhibit restlessness, defiance and anger, researchers explained.

They also had lower levels of cooperation and self-esteem, results showed.

To explore the link between fathers’ mental health and children’s behaviors, researchers analyzed data on more than 1,400 kids enrolled in a long-term study that randomly sampled births from 20 large U.S. cities between 1998 and 2000.

When the kids were 5 years old, fathers were screened for symptoms of depression. Teachers completed a behavioral assessment for the kids when they reached age 9.

“Kindergarten entry is an important developmental milestone, and adversities faced at that time can lead to poorer engagement and behaviors in grade school that may persist or magnify through middle and high school,” researchers wrote.

HealthDay
https://www.healthday.com/health-news/child-health/outdoor-play-sports-can-promote-motor-skills-in-youngsters

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